The Studio Reunion 2.0: Revisiting the Impact of an Immersive PBL Classroom

With a new year comes a renewed focus on the blog, beginning with a very special first post of the year. Nearly two years ago I sat down with four students who were part of my very first cohort of students who were in my completely immersive cross-curricular, project-based learning classroom. Today I share with you a another conversation made up of five other former students who were part of the second cohort of students. Much like the group before, they are in their final years of college, and they are all on the cusp of entering the job market.

The discussion is a long one (running over an hour), so below I’ve added a few timestamps in case you want to skip around to a topic of interest to you.

2:56 — Beginning of Discussion (Skips Intro)
6:13 — Story Telling (Students discuss a memories from the program)
11:00 — How alternating group members impacted learning then and now.
13:09 — Looking at the cohort model and it’s impact on learning
16:55 — Group dynamics within the cohort
18:57 — Reasons for joining The Studio
22:30 — What did The Studio mean to you personally, educationally, or even professionally?
28:05 — Reflections on grading and feedback in a PBL classroom
34:48 — Developing self-advocacy
37:18 — Favorite projects (including a look at the impact of public presentations)
43:50 — Critiques of the instruction within the program
48:18 — Exemplars (Benefits) of instruction within the program
55:55 — Developing flexibility, resiliency, and embracing failure
1:00:0 — “Playing the Game” of college–more on self-advocacy
1:04:28 — Should all teachers try PBL? Should all students experience PBL?
1:11:57 — Final Thoughts on PBL, teaching, and learning